Asbury Marsh
Laws *No violence is permitted in this region. Places of Interest 'Bane Pest Control '(Science/Investigation/Occult 1 Site) Employees of Bane Pest Control often find themselves digging into all manner of Arkham’s basements, crawlspaces, attics, and disused places where pests hide. More than once employees have found bones, weird symbols, and other oddities inside the older homes of Arkham. 'Arkham Elks Lodge '(Socialize 4, Persuasion/Intimidate 1 Site) Arkham Lodge 1508 meets the second and fourth Wednesday of every month; Ladies of the Elks meet the third Wednesday. The club features a good-sized reception hall and adjoining bar rented out on weekends for functions. There’s a separate, basement-level members-only clubroom/tavern, complete with billiards and three (illegal) slot machines. A massive, 1.5-ton, life-size bronze elk atop a brick pedestal adorns the front lawn. Over the years, its bronze hue has weathered to green. 'Asbury Methodist-Episcopal Church '(Persuasion/Expression 3 Site) Founded in 1789 by "Bishop" Jonathan Asbury this house of worship is one of the most attended churches in town. The original building burned in 1815 and was replaced by the existing brick building a year later. Renovations have taken place periodically over the years to keep the church in good repair and to meet the needs of the community. 'Nellie's Candies and Ice Cream '(Socialize 1 Site) Walking through the doors into this shop is like taking a step back in time. A long glass candy counter to the right gleams under the white overhead lights, offering all manner of delectable sweets on display. The smell is heavenly. To the left, another long counter displays no less than twenty flavors of ice cream, including local favorites coffee and black raspberry. Candy prices tend to be expensive, but as everything is homemade, quality is assured. The management likes to hire Kingsmouth kids, who develop strong arms scooping out generous portions of ice cream from the five-gallon tubs. Several small, marble-topped circular tables with accompanying wire-backed chairs with red-padded seats, a colorful jukebox in the corner, and a checkerboard-tiled floor complete this place’s retro look and appeal. Nellie’s Candies and Ice Cream is a huge hit with Arkham families and tourists. The ice-cream eating record is held by area resident Lewis Theobald, Jr., an admitted ice-cream addict who once plowed his way through twenty scoops of ice-cream in under twenty minutes. Theobald’s picture hangs over the ice cream counter with a small placard proclaiming his accomplishment. '"It Came From The Frialator" Restaurant '(Socialize/Persuasion 1 Site) This popular attraction stands on the site of the old Cinema Veritas. The ambitious new owner gutted the interior of the place and installed a dozen 50’s era Chevrolets stripped down to their frames with the tops removed to become the restaurant booths. A large movie screen at the head of the restaurant shows retro science fiction and horror movies to customers while they dine on 1950’s “snack shack” fare in their booths. Waitresses on roller skates wearing paper hats and monogrammed aprons cruise the dining area, bringing customers their hot dogs, fries, shakes and burgers on cheap plastic trays. The place has become a popular hit with families. Open Wednesday through Sunday, the place is entered off a neon-lit alley and down a short flight of stairs. An aged but serviceable elevator provides access for handicapped guests. 'Crawford's Restaurant '(Socialize/Intimidate 3 Site) Specializing in gigantic old-style eight- and ten-course meals, Crawford's is the most expensive restaurant in town. This ground-floor restaurant is obscured behind a wrought iron fence and overwhelmed in ivy, the entrance shaded by an arched awning. Stained glass-inlaid doors open into a petite lobby where a baby grand piano is manned by a local talent every night of the week. Crawford's has been in the same location since the Civil War, and for history buffs there is a bronze plague that memorializes the table at which General Sheridan once sat. For all its history, the modern era has caught up. Elaborate glass sculpture flutes the high plastered ceilings, swirls and grape-like clusters sweeping through a subdued jewel palette. Pale walls are overtaken by smooth walnut panels, and alcoves carve out private niches for linen-topped tables that accommodate no more than four diners at a time. A raised level affords additional private, connected by hardwood steps to the main dining room. The kitchen is particularly renown for its fowl and wild seafood dishes prepared in creative methods, and dining here is an art as much as a leisure activity. Open 5-10:30pm Tuesday-Saturday. 'Mick E. Cheese's '(The Mouth of Hell) Children under age ten find this combination pizza parlor/arcade fun room charming while most adults find it obnoxious. The pizza tastes like cardboard and tomato paste, the salad is limp, sometimes the ice machine runs out, but no matter – children will beg their parents to take them to this place. Hands are stamped at the door by an indifferent teenaged employee so that - in theory - parents and their children are matched, making unauthorized exits with other children difficult. The arcade features kiddie rides for toddlers, pinball and video games for older children, and huge plastic colorful tubing for the children to scramble through, looking and serving essentially the same purpose as an oversized hamster pen. A small stage in one corner of the restaurant features “Mick E. and Friends,” five-foot-tall, cartoonish automatons representing the restaurant’s signature kid-friendly characters. These depressing robots - primitive by modern theme park standards - animate with stuttering, jerky movements every fifteen minutes or so, going through an eight minute routine of corny jokes, inane banter, and rip-offs of tired pop songs now lyrically modified to feature the Mick E. gang. Mick E. Cheese’s is always very loud – shrieking children, blings and blips from the arcade games, tired parents yelling at their kids, the automatons blathering and crooning to no one in particular; as such, it is an excellent place to discuss matters discreetly in a public place, although anyone spending time in here without children will quickly be suspect in the eyes of even the most jaded employees. 'Miskatonic Valley Art Association '(Expression 1 Site) Focusing exclusively on Miskatonic Valley artists, this gallery housed in a sprawling, well-kept Victorian-style house showcases artists unable to hang work in the more exclusive art halls in Kingsport. There are many showings during the year, and sales are just enough to keep the place going. There's an array of paintings on the walls and sculptures scattered here and there. There are backless couches around the place, usually in the middle of the floor, which allow patrons to relax and focus on any particular piece of artwork that catches their eye. So as not to distract from the artwork, the walls are a neutral white and the couches are plain black. This is one of the city's Elysiums. 'Amherst Theatre '(Persuasion 1 Site) Nine screens show the latest big blockbusters at this temple to Hollywood. The Amherst Cinemas is always vaguely sticky and dingy despite the half-hearted efforts of a mostly under-21 staff prodded by their college-aged managers. Technicolor-striped black carpets meander down oppressive hallways, overlooked by posters for new releases. One snack bar is perpetually shut down, dried out popcorn on display with archaic boxes of candy that cost a ransom to buy. There hasn't been a recent renovation here in over a decade, and the chrome and neon fixtures in the lobby have a surreal, uncomfortably eerie quality. Open 1-11pm daily, closed on Christmas, New Year's Eve, and Easter. Now owned by Dionysus Entertainment, a subsidiary of GenuCorp. GenuCorp: the Genuine People Company. 'Pitt Apartment Building '(Resources 2 Housing) Two or three room flats with own bathroom and shower. Unglamorous and unassuming yet affordable. 'Big Basket '(Location) A depressingly drab, soulless supermarked illuminated day and night by bright fluorescent tube lights, giving the metal shelving, their wares, and the linoleum floors a washed-out look. Dead-eyed teenagers are just dying to take your bags to your car, stare slackjawed as you count your change, and ask you if you want paper or plastic. Due to Massachusetts liquor laws, no alcoholic beverages are sold here, although the place does a very brisk trade in cigarettes and lottery tickets, both of which are behind the front desk. Oddly, the place carries a dusty selection of faded, curled greeting cards, which stock never rotates. Perhaps the only place one can buy a decade-old Christmas card in July for a buck or two. Open 7am to 9pm Monday-Friday, and 8am-9pm on weekends. Only closes Christmas and Thanksgiving, with short shift on other major holidays. 'Mormon Meeting House '(Persuasion/Expression 1 Site) A large, well-maintained place serving as religious home for greater Arkham’s Latter Day Saint population. A vacant lot across the street also belongs to the Church. There, the community has built a large house containing Sunday School classrooms and a dormitory for traveling Latter Day Saint missionaries. Category:Asbury Marsh Category:Downtown Category:Arkham Category:Locations Category:Elysium Category:Persuasion sites Category:Expression sites Category:Housing Category:Socialize sites Category:Intimidation sites Category:Science sites Category:Investigation sites Category:Occult sites